Counterbalanced door.



0. C. FOSSELMA-N.

v GOUNTERBALANCED DOOR. APPLIO'ATION FILED Mmm, 1909 1,012,834. v Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

SSHEETS-SHEET 1 mm. u* 5 9 O. C. POSSELMAN.

COUNTERBALANOBD DOOR.

APPLICATION IILED MAB. a. 1909.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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InVE- 1'1-:1 DFDSSELIIIEIII E3 c A DFI-IE s' 0. C. FOSSELMAN. COUNTBRBALANCED DOOR.

APPLICATION HLBD MAR. s, 1909,

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Wlse @7x67 IT I-l/en nr n clssalman E LI f A url-1E' s OTTO C. FOSSELMAN, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COUNTEEBALANGED Doon.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

Application led March 3, 1909. SerialNo. 481,189.

VTo all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, O'I'ro C. FOSSELMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and Improved Counterbalanced'Door, oat which the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication.

My invention relates to counterbalanced doors, with special reference l.to a form of door which will be readily and quickly operated.

I am aware that counterbalanced doors have been used inthe past, but the chief-objection to all previous formsl has been the slownessv and diiiiculty of operation. It has been usual to support a counterweight to a chain which has been operated over a pulley, the chain being suitably attached to the door. In my improved form of door a counterbalancing weight is .directly attached by means of a suitable framework to the door itself, the door being raised by being swung outwardly or inwardly, as the case may be, to form a canopy. The/door being hinged at its upper part, it is evident that the door and its attached counterbalance act as a lever pivoted tothe under.

side of the lintel.

In the preferred form of my invention the door is-made in upper and lower portions, the two portions being suitably hinged together. When the door ris-raised the two portions become foldedtogether, the lower half of the door being retained in its proper position by means of wheels which run in suit-able guides. By using a door which is thus divided into an upper and lower portion, it is possible to use a much lighter counterweight than can be used when the door is made in the form of a sin le piece.

Turning now to a detailed description of my invention-Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the door with its surrounding -framework; Fig. 2 is a partial front elevation of the door; Fig. 3 is a sectional View on the plane 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a vertical secti-on of a door consisting of a single form of door on a plane similar to that of vFig. 3; Fig. 6 is an enlarged section taken on the .plane 6 6 of Fig. 1; Fig.l 7 is a front elevation of a modified form of the guiding mechanism for the door and Fig. S is a section on the line-8`-8 of Fig. 7.

In Fig.` 1 the door is made up ofthe 11pper portion 1 and the lower portion 2. '10 the upper portion 1 are attached the supports 3, 3, 3, to which is attached the counterbalancing weight 4. The upper and lower lportions of the door are 4suitably joined by the hinges 5, 5, 5. Attached to the frame of the door are angle .irons 6, 6 which, in connection with angle irons 7, best shown in Fig. 6, form suitable guides or tracks in which the wheels 9, 9 attached to the bottom of the lower portion" 2 of the door are adapted to operate.V The wheels 9 operate on an axle 10, which in turn is held in po- -sit-ion by the plate 11. When the door is in its closed position two s ring bolts 12, 12, which operate in the rames 12, 12 rigidly fasten the door. The bolts `12, 12 are connected together by means of a suitable chainor rope 13. When it is desired to open or raise the door, the two bolts 12,

12A are released from their engaging position by pulling on the chain 13. The counterbalancing weight 4 then becomes eiiective andthe lower portion of the door, having the wheels 9, 9 running in their guides, is made to occupy the position `shown in dotted lines inv Fig. 3,theupper portion of the door meanwhile coming into a position above and approximately parallel to the lower portion, this upper portion 1 being pivoted by means of the hinges 14, 14.` The track 7 at itsupper portion is a little inclined from a vert-ical position, as shown between the points 15 and 16,' in order to allow the wheels 9, 9 to move slightly in an opposite direction from the counterweight and thus cause the two portions ofthe door to lie approximately in a horizontal plane when they are in a raised position. The closing of the'd'oor is accomplished by means of a roperor chain 17 attached tothe framey of the door at 18 and to the door byY means of the eye 19. When the door is raised it can thus easily be closed by pulling on the rope 17 until the lower portlon is nearly in its normal position, and then by exerting suitable pressure near the point where the two portions Vof the door are joined by hinges the door is completely closed. f

55 ,l -larly useful where it is desirable' to obtain closedy position and occupy the position In lorder to securely hold the door in its raised position I use -the spring 42 which is attached to the iframe of the door by the screw 43. When the door is raised this spring is flattened against the bottom of the guide until the door has passed it. It is then released and acts as a supporting means .for the door itself. Whenthe door is again closed the spring is similarly-flattened by lhaving its free end extend in an upward direction and it again assumes its normal position after the .doorvhas passed it.. I also provide'auxiliary means by which the door will automatically be closed in caseof re. 'Ifo the lintel of the door is attached a framework 20 within lwhich is supported the fs rin 21. The ortion 22 of this spring co- P g P \operates with ,the bar 23 whichA shown in its normal position in dotted lines in Fig. 3. At its outer end the bar 23 is normally supported to the beam 24a by eye bolt 24, a

\cord 25 and link`\26 of read-ily fusible ma`l erial which is inserted in the opening 27 of he bar 23. I fthe door is in its raised position and there should be a` fire the \link 26 would becomeme'lted or' the cord25`would be \bu rned. When this happens `the bar 23' would bereleased and by the operation of the spring `21I would force the door to`\its shown in full lines in Figs. k2 and 3. Asa further protection against firey Inprovide a plate 40 shown in Fig.- 1. The thickness of the door has been considerably reduced Where thisplate 1s placed and iscut down to `a minimum at' the portion immediately behind the depressed portion 41of the plate. In case of fire it is a mattei-.of butlittle difiiculty to break through the door byexerting suitable pressure on the portion 41, and when an` openinghas been made atthis point the bolts 12, 12. can easilybe withdrawn by pulling on the chain 13 and the door thus readily opened.

A modificationl of the door is shown in Fig. 4, where instead of being made in two portions, the door itself consists of a single portion28 which is suitably braced by brace 29 andk the T-rail 30. which are suitably attached to the door by the brackets 31, 32 and 33. When this style of door is opened it is evident that the whole structure swings V-on the pivot 34 of the hinge 35, and the door occupies the position partially shown in dotted lines. This style of doorway is particucounterweight outside of the door frame, in this modification it occupies the inside and the door itself in its raised position is outside of the door frame. The advantage of this method ofk construction is that the counterweight operates within a very restricted radius outside of the door frame itself and is adapted to interfere but little with the operation of the elevator. y

When the door is particularly wide or made of comparatively light material, it `is clear that there might be a tendency for one side of the door, where the wheels are atplaced. By this arrangementl it is made impossible for one side of the door-to rise at a differen'trate fromthat of the other side.

.As an additional means of vproviding protection in case of fire, in some cases I provide a chain 44 whichis attached at or near the middle of chain 13 at the point 45.' This chain 44 runs through an opening 46 in the section 2 of the door. On the side'opposite t-othat on which'the chainl13 is placed 1s provided a handle 47. It "is evident thatby this means the door can be opened both from the front and rear; from the front by meansof pulling directly on the chain 13,

mnd from the rear by pulling on the handle 47. l

Considerable modifications can be. made from the exact structure which is described without departing from the underlying principle of my invention. f

yWhat .I claim as new and desire to cover by Letters Patent is: 1

. 1. In aslcounterbalanced door structure, a door frame, a door within said frame, said door and said frame being in the same vertical plane said door horizontally divided into a .plurality of sections, hinge means for jolning said sections, Vmeans for supportin the upper section of said door from sai frame, guideways associated with said frame, guiding means associated with said sections, said guiding means adapted to operate in said guideways, and a counterbalancing weight rigidly attached'to the upper section of said door and in a diiferent plane from said door, said weight tendingto swing said section vfrom a vertical to a horizontal position and to drag the lower section upward with it.

2. In a counterbalanced door structure, a

for .joining said sections, hinges for sup-l porting the upper section of saiddoor from planes, said weight tending to simultane-v ously swing said upper section from a verti- Acal to ahorizontal position and to dragsaid lower section upward with it.

3. In a counterbalanced door structure, a door frame, a door within said frame, said door andv said frame being normally in the same vertical plane, said door being horizontally divided into two sections, hinge means for joining said sections, pivotal meansy for supporting the. upper section from said frame, vertical guideways associated with said frame, guiding means associated wit-h the sides of the lower section, said guiding means adapted to operate in said guideways, andy a counterbalancing weightattached to said upper section, said weight being in a different vertical plane from said door and tending to simultaneously swing said upper section from a vertical to a horizontal position and to drag said lower section upward with it.

4. In a counterbalanced door structure, a door trame, a door within said frame, said door being horizontally divided into an upper and a lower section, hinges for joining said sections, hinges for supporting said upper section from the lintel of said frame, wheels associated with the sides of said lower section, guideways for said wheels associated with the sides of said frames, the direction of said guideways at their upper parts 'being so modified that when said wheels are raised the axes of said wheels will be brought into the same vertical plane as the axes of said hinges supporting said upper section, a bracket attached to said upper section, and al weight connected with said bracket, said weight tending simultaneously to swing said sections from a vertical to a horizontal position and to raise said lower section toward the horizontal plane of said lintel.

5. In a counterbalanced door structure, a door frame, a door within said frame, said door being horizontally divided into an upper and a lower section, hinges for joining said sections, hinges for supporting said upper section from the lintel of said frame, pinions associated with the sides of said lower section, racks associated with the sides of said frames, said pinions adapted to cooperate with said racks, the rdirection of said racks at their upper parts being so modified that when said pinions are raised the axes of said pinions will be brought into the same Vertical plane as the axes of said hinges supporting said upper section, avbracket attached to said upper section, and a weight rigidly secured to said bracketfsaid vvweight tending to simultaneously swing said .sections from a vertical to a horizontal posi-y Vtion and to raise said lower section toward the horizontal plane of said lintel.

6. In a counterbalanced door. structure, a door frame, a door within said trame, said door being horizontally divided into an upper and a lower section,hinges for joining said sections, yhinges for support-ing said .upper section .from ,thelintel of said frame, vertical guideways associated .with the sides of said frame, wheels associated with the sides of said lower section,` said wheels adapted to operate in said guideways, avbracket attached to saidv upper sect-ion, a weight connected with said bracket, said-weight tending simultaneously to swing said sections fromv a vertical to a horizontal position and to raisesaid lower section toward the horizontal plane of said lintel, and resilient means associated l.with said guideways for retaining .said sections when in said horizontal and raised position, said sections being automatically disengaged from said retaining means.

7. In a counterbalanced door structure, a door frame, a door within said frame, said door being horizontally divided into an upper and a lower section, hingesfor joining said sections, `hinges for supporting said upper vsection `from the lintel of said frame, vertical guideways associated with'4M the sides of said frame, wheels associated with the sides of said lower section, said wheels adapted to operate in said guideways, a bracket attached to said upper-section, a weight connected with said bracket, said weight tending simultaneously to swing said sections yfrom `a vertical to a horizontal position and to raise said lower section toward the horizontal plane of said lintel, and a spr-ing associated with said guideways for retaining said wheels, thereby holding said sections when in their horizontal and raised position, said sections being automatically disengaged from said spring.

8. In a counterbalanced door struct-ure, a door frame, an upper door section hinged in said frame, a counterbalancing weight rigidly secured to the upper section, a lower section hinged to 'the bottom of said upper section, and means for vertically guiding the lower end of said lower section, said l sections, means for suspending said door from said frame, said door and said `frame being .inthe same vertical plane, and a counterbalancin weight rigidly attached to said doorsa1drweight adapted to `swing said sections from vertical to horizontal positions.

10. In a counterbalanced door structure, a door frame, a door hinged to the lintel of said frame, said door being horizontally divided into a plurality of sections, means for vertically guidingV the lower end of the bottom section ofsaid door, a bracket rigidly secured'to the 'upper section of the door land extending beyond the aXis upon which it is hinged, and a weight rigidly secured toA said bracket, said weight tending to swing said upper section 1 nto a horizontal position, said upper section drawing said lower section with it so as to bring it also in a horizontal position. f

11. In a counterbalanced door structure a door frame, an upper door section hinged 'to the top of said frame, a lower section hinged to the bottom'of said upper section, means for vertically guiding the lower `edge ofsaid lower section, and a weight rigidly secured to the upper section extending beyond the stationary hinge axis'thereof to counterbalance the `door to remove side strains from the stationary hinge axis.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 25th day vof February, A D.

OTTO C. FOSSELMAN.

` Witnesses:

HENRY M. I-IUXLEY, ALBERT G. MCCALEB. 

